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Sword, Sheath and Belt

c.1850 (made)
Artist/Maker
Unknown
Place of origin
Rajasthan (made)

Sword (talwar) steel mounted in enamelled gold, crimson velvet scabbard and green velvet sword belt with two enamelled buckles

Object details

Categories
Arms & Armour
Metalwork
Object type
Sword, sheath and belt
Parts
This object consists of 3 parts.

  • Sword
  • Sword Sheath
  • Sword Belt
Materials and techniques
Steel, enamel, gold, velvet, wood.
Enamelling
Brief description
Sword talwar with sheath and belt, crucible forged steel with hilt, sheath and belt decorated with polychrome enamelling, Rajasthan, 19th century
Physical description
Sword (talwar) steel mounted in enamelled gold, crimson velvet scabbard and green velvet sword belt with two enamelled buckles
Dimensions
  • Sword, from top of hilt to point of blade length: 920mm
  • Enamelled hilt length: 178mm
  • Enamelled hilt, widest part width: 100mm
  • Enamelled hilt, diameter of circular section depth: 69mm
  • Sheath, not including belt attachments length: 847mm
  • Sheath, widest part width: 55mm
  • Sheath depth: 28mm
  • Large buckle length: 75mm
  • Large buckle width: 66mm
  • Small buckle length: 49mm
  • Small buckle width: 34mm
  • Belt textile width: 41mm
  • Approximate length of sword and sheath when fitted together length: 970mm
Marks and inscriptions
  • Transliteration
Object history
Acquired from the Great Exhibition of 1851, London, as 'modern'.
Subject depicted
Flowers
Bibliographic references
  • Jackson, Anna and Ji Wei (eds.) with Rosemary Crill, Ainsley M. Cameron and Nicholas Barnard, compiled by the Palace Museum, translated by Yuan Hong, Qi Yue and Liu Ran. The Splendour of India' Royal Courts : Collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum. Beijing: the Forbidden City Publishing House, 2013. Text in English and Chinese. ISBN 9787513403917. pps. 194-195
  • Bryant, Julius and Weber, Susan; John Lockwood Kipling: Arts and Crafts in the Punjab and London Newhaven: Yale University Press, 2017 p. 9, fig. 1.15, cat. 19, and p. 527
  • Miller, Lesley Ellis, and Ana Cabrera Lafuente, with Claire Allen-Johnstone, eds. Silk: Fibre, Fabric and Fashion. London: Thames & Hudson Ltd in association with the Victoria and Albert Museum, 2021. ISBN 978-0-500-48065-6. This object features in the publication Silk: Fibre, Fabric and Fashion (2021)
Collection
South & South East Asia Collection
Accession number
110 to B-1852

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Record createdJune 25, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O456604/sword-sheath-and-unknown/
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